


A New Player

by evilwriter37



Series: Scholar’s Mate [10]
Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Harassment, M/M, Modern AU, Phone Calls, Professor/Student Relationship, Stalking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:26:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25925107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37
Summary: Hiccup runs into someone outside of class who tries to tell him that Viggo is dangerous. Hiccup doesn't believe a single word of it.
Relationships: Viggo Grimborn/Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
Series: Scholar’s Mate [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1251188
Comments: 12
Kudos: 18





	A New Player

Hiccup was running late for class. He was speedwalking towards the building, and he noticed a person standing outside, smoking a cigarette. 

“Hey, buddy, you’re gonna be late to class!” Hiccup called to him as he rushed by. He looked a little old to be in college, but that didn’t matter. Anyone of any age came to this college. 

The man just nodded, but then continued smoking his cigarette. With a shrug, Hiccup went into the building. It wasn’t like him to be late to class, but he’d needed to get ready after Viggo had dropped him off. And Viggo had given him some things that he’d needed to hide away in his underwear drawer, because no one would go looking in there.

He was meeting his friends for lunch after. But class first. Hiccup hoped this wasn’t going to be a long day. 

  
  


Hiccup felt better about having gone to class once it was over and he was leaving the building. He was free to have lunch with his friends. 

Someone grabbed him by the arm, and he expected it to be Snotlout or one of the twins. He looked to the side, but didn’t recognize the person that had grabbed him and was pulling him away to the side of the building.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I don’t know you!” Hiccup cried.

“Sh! Not too loud!” The man looked up from under his hood, and Hiccup realized it was the guy that had been smoking a cigarette outside the building earlier. He’d seemed nondescript, like just another college student that Hiccup would run into then and again, but now he’d grabbed him. What did he want with him? Was he in any sort of danger?

Hiccup decided that no, he wasn’t. If this man wanted to cause him harm, he wouldn’t be singling him out in the middle of a sunny day on his college campus. There were plenty of better places to attack somebody. But still, he seemed to want something from him. He’d pulled him to the side of the building, away from the rush of people coming and going from class. 

“What do you want?” Hiccup asked none-too-kindly. He just wanted to go to lunch with his friends. 

“Sorry about that.” The man gave him a crooked smile. There was something ruggedly attractive about him. Dark hair fell from under his hood, and his eyes were a piercing blue. He held out his hand to shake. “I’m Cory.”

“Uh, Hiccup.” Hiccup decidedly did not shake his hand. Cory frowned down at the empty space where Hiccup’s hand should have gone, then lowered his hand. 

“I was hoping you were.”

“Excuse me?”

“I know who you are,” Cory said. 

“Yeah, I don’t know who you are. Bye.” Hiccup turned to leave, feeling creeped out. Cory grabbed him by his backpack and yanked him back.

“No, this is serious. I need to talk to you.”

Hiccup turned back to face him, shaking his head. “Okay, okay. First of all, how do you know who I am?”

“Um… That’s a long story.”

Hiccup folded his arms. He didn’t quite have time for this. He could feel his phone buzz in his pocket, probably one of his friends saying they’d secured a table. 

“Okay, and what do you want to talk to me about?”

“You’re with Viggo, right?”

“No, I’m not.” How did this man know that? How did he know who he was? How did he know about his _secret_ relationship that not even his friends knew about? 

Cory shook his head. “Hiccup, I don’t have time for this. I know you’re with him.”

“ _How?_ ” Hiccup spread his hands in incredulity. “Not even my friends know!”

“Also a long story.” 

Hiccup scratched at his head. “Look, what do you want? Yeah, I’m with Viggo. What does it matter?”

“You have to be careful with him,” Cory said. 

“Careful? Yeah, I know. I’m keeping it a secret. What else do you want me to do?” Hiccup was feeling very annoyed, but that was being overridden by fear… and curiosity. This man had found him and knew about his relationship with Viggo. How could he not be curious? 

“No, not that.” Cory shook his head. “He’s dangerous, alright?”

“Dangerous? Dude, he’s a _college professor_.”

“Has he done things with you?” Cory asked. “Has he made you try sexual things that you wouldn’t have otherwise?”

“That’s none of your business. Look, if you don’t start explaining yourself right this second, I’m leaving.” Hiccup tapped his foot impatiently, took his phone out to look at his texts. His friends were wondering if his class had run late. 

“Okay, I can explain.” Cory suddenly stole Hiccup’s phone from his hand.

“Hey!” Hiccup swiped at him to try to get it back, but Cory grabbed his wrist and stayed him. 

“Calm down. I’m just giving you my phone number.” Hiccup lowered his hand, watched as Cory added himself to his contacts. “See?” He handed his phone back. “I’ll tell you everything later. Just call me.”

Before Hiccup could tell Cory that he was definitely _not_ calling him, the man was leaving. Hiccup opened his mouth to call out to him, but didn’t know what to say. He lowered his head, looked at his name and number in his contacts. He held his thumb over the button to delete it.

But how did Cory know who he was? How did he know about him and Viggo? Curiosity ate away at Hiccup’s rationale, and he lowered his thumb. He wasn’t going to delete his number. He was uncertain about whether or not he would call him, but he’d keep his number. 

Feeling shaken, Hiccup went to go find his friends. They’d secured a round table outside the dining hall, had been waiting for him to get there before going to get their food. 

“Hey, Hiccup, what took so long?” Astrid asked, moving over to make a spot for him. Hiccup put his bag down, sat between her and Snotlout. It felt like his phone was burning a hole in his pocket from the number in it. 

“Class ran late,” Hiccup lied. He wasn’t going to tell his friends about Cory, because that would mean telling them about Viggo first, and he’d promised to keep that a secret. 

“Professors who do that suck,” Ruffnut said. 

“Yeah,” Hiccup agreed, hoping that his boyfriend wasn’t one of those professors. 

They talked of trivial things as they got up to go get their food. Their bags would mark that the table was taken, and no one would bother trying to steal anything from them, not on a college campus. By the time they got back, Hiccup had learned that Tuffnut and Snotlout were getting matching tattoos.

“Of what?” Hiccup asked, putting his tray down and then taking a seat. 

“A dragon!” Tuffnut exclaimed. He lifted his shirt, pointed to his ribs. “I’m getting mine right here.”

“You know that’s seriously going to hurt, right?” Fishlegs asked. 

“Yeah, but I’m not afraid of needles like _somebody_ ,” Tuffnut responded. 

“They just freak me out, okay?” Fishlegs defended himself. 

Hiccup lost track of the conversation from there. He was thinking too much about Cory and what he’d said. How did he know who he was and how had he found him? Hiccup had social media like Tumblr, Youtube, and Instagram, but he wasn’t the type of person to put his location out on it. The only one that had his location was Facebook, but he just used that for family. Hiccup wasn’t “internet famous” so there was no way Cory could have gotten his location that way, and he wasn’t someone that Hiccup knew online. He hadn’t mentioned knowing his father, so he probably hadn’t gotten to him that way. Then what options did that leave? How had Cory found him? How did he know about his relationship with Viggo when even his closest friends didn’t know? 

Someone elbowed him in the arm. “Hiccup, you okay?” It was Snotlout. “You looked like you lost touch there for a minute.”

“What?” Hiccup shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Oh yeah, I’m fine. Perfectly fine! Just thinking about some assignments.”

“That’s boring.” Snotlout said. “Anyway, I was gonna ask if you could design the tattoos for me and Tuffnut.”

“ _Me?_ ” Hiccup asked incredulously. He was a good artist, but that good? He wasn’t so sure.

“Yeah, I’ll even pay you. How much do you want?”

“Whoa, slow down, slow down.” Hiccup held out a hand. “You want me designing something that you’re going to have on your body for life?”

“Yep!” Tuffnut butted in. “Don’t know anyone better!” 

“Well, um…” Hiccup laughed nervously. Really, he wouldn’t mind a paid art gig, especially if it was for one of his friends. He’d just have to make a few designs and let them pick one. “Sure.”

Snotlout side-hugged him. “Thanks, my man!” Tuffnut fistbumped him from across the table. “No rush on anything.”

“Actually, maybe rush a little,” Tuffnut said. “I really want this tattoo.”

Ruffnut hit Tuffnut over the head. “Hey! It takes time to do good art!”

“Okay, okay, sorry.” Tuffnut looked abashed. He hid the expression in his soda. Hiccup just smiled and shook his head. It was one more thing added onto his plate, but at least it was just art.

  
  


Hiccup paced in his room. Fishlegs was out somewhere, so he was all on his own. It was the perfect time to call Cory.

But he was so nervous about all this. Cory hadn’t seemed to want to cause him harm, but what if giving him his number was just some ploy to reel him into something dangerous? What did he mean that Viggo was dangerous? Why did he care about his sex life with Viggo? 

Hiccup had too many questions that needed answering. He was going to call. Just as he was about to hit the button to do so, his phone started ringing.

Hiccup sighed, lowered the phone for a second, then hit the talk button and put it to his ear.

“Hey, dad.”

“Hey, son! Been a while since we talked. How’s college treating you?”

“Good! Really good!” Hiccup had already decided he wasn’t going to tell Stoick about Viggo. He could see his father being mad about that for whatever reason. Besides, if he told his father, he might talk to his friends about it. He knew Hiccup’s friends. 

“Yeah? What’s been going on.”

“Well, I joined the chess club with Fishlegs. It’s every Wednesday.” Uh oh, he was thinking about Viggo now. He couldn’t let anything slip. 

“That’s nice. I know you like chess. Anything else interesting going on?”

“I’m going to be designing a tattoo for Tuffnut and Snotlout,” Hiccup said. “They’re paying me for it.”

“That’s great! What’s it of?”

“A dragon.” Hiccup was good at drawing dragons. He had this in the bag. “I’ll have to come up with a few designs and let them pick one.”

Stoick let Hiccup ramble on about art for a few minutes, which Hiccup was glad for. Stoick used to not be so into Hiccup’s interests, but that had changed as he’d gotten older. They talked about a few other things too, about his friends, specifically Tuffnut and Snotlout. His dad didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that the two of them were dating, which was good, given that Stoick’s generation tended to come with a lot of homophobia. Hm, maybe Hiccup _could_ tell him about Viggo…

No. No, he couldn’t. Viggo had told him to keep it a secret, so he would. 

Finally, “Dad, I gotta let you go.” He didn’t know when Fishlegs would be back, so this conversation was cutting into the time he had to talk to Cory. 

“Alright. Bye, Hiccup. Just remember to call and that you’re welcome home any weekend.”

“Thanks, dad. Bye. I love you.” 

They hung up, and then Hiccup was again left nervously hovering with his thumb over the call button on Cory’s contact information. Taking a deep breath, he hit the button. 

It rang. 

And rang.

And rang. 

Hiccup paced, tapping his thigh, afraid it would go to voicemail. Finally, someone picked up and a familiar voice said: “Hello?”

“Cory.” Hiccup wasn’t going to say hello. “You said you could explain all this? How you know who I am? How you know about me and Viggo?”

“Yes, well, do you have the time? No one’s around you?”

“I’m on my own.” 

“Good.” 

“So, let me start by telling you something about Viggo.” 

“That doesn’t-”

“No, let me talk.”

Hiccup pursed his lips together, not happy with being interrupted. Then again, Cory was right. He wasn’t letting him speak. 

“He’s on the deep web,” Cory said. “In a group for those with a lot of kinks.”

“Okay, so, he’s kinky. That’s not a bad thing.” Hiccup had figured that about Viggo after viewing those videos with him, after how he’d reacted to them, after he’d had him tied up. He’d had over 24 hours to think about it, and realized he was okay with that. Besides, he’d liked being tied up. 

“That’s not the point. You know those pictures and that video he took of you?”

“How the _fuck_ do you know about that?”

“He posted them there.”

“Wait, wait, so you’re _in_ the group?” Hiccup surmised. “Why the hell would you hunt me out like that?” Hiccup was on the verge of hanging up and blocking Cory’s number. 

“To keep you safe,” Cory said. “I know it sounds backwards, but I’m here to-”

Hiccup wasn’t going to take anymore of this. He hung up, breathing heavy. Then, he called Viggo.

“Did you post those pictures anywhere?” Hiccup asked without even a hello.

“Hiccup, Hiccup, what’s gotten you like this?”

“Nothing. I just…” Hiccup paused. How was he going to explain Cory and everything he’d told him? No, he couldn’t do it. “I got nervous,” he lied. He hadn’t. Not at all. He’d trusted Viggo with those pictures, and as far as he was concerned, he still trusted him with them. Cory knew all too much, but that couldn’t possibly be Viggo’s fault. 

“Hiccup, I kept those to myself.” Viggo’s voice was soft. “I told you that I would.” 

Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief. “That… that makes me feel better. Thank you.”

Suddenly, he got a text. He looked at it, and it was a picture of himself… naked… that Viggo had taken. The picture was from Corey with the message: **This look familiar?**

“I have to go.” Hiccup tried not to sound panicked. “I have a lot of homework.” He softened his voice. “Thank you for the weekend.” 

“Of course, my dear. Any time. Good luck with the homework.”

Viggo hung up, and Hiccup instantly called Cory back. This wasn’t something he could text him about.

“Oh my god, you hacked Viggo’s phone!” Hiccup accused. 

“I didn’t.” Cory’s voice was somehow calm. “I told you where I got the pictures from. I’m assuming you just called him.”

“I did.”

“And he told you he didn’t post the pictures?”

“He did, and guess what? I’m going to believe him over some guy I just met who followed me to my college.” Even now, Hiccup was thinking of going to Public Safety and giving them a description of Cory so that he wouldn’t be let on campus.

“Just listen to me!” Now Cory sounded upset. “The only reason I’m in this kink group of his is because I used to date him. I almost went to the police over him because he hurt me pretty bad. I decided to keep an eye on him to make sure he wouldn’t hurt anyone else.”

“And did anyone else he dated believe this bullshit, _Cory_ , if that’s even your name?” Hiccup was frustrated beyond all belief. 

“No, actually, none of them ever called me.”

Hiccup snorted. “Guess I’m the stupid one then.” 

“Hiccup-”

“If I see you again, I’ll have one of my friends knock your teeth out.” Hiccup wasn’t a violent person, but he was terribly upset. Cory had stalked him, hacked Viggo’s phone, and found private pictures of him. Why was he doing this? Just to upset him? Hiccup supposed it didn’t really matter, because he hung up, and then blocked Cory’s number.

  
  


Hiccup was still pacing when Fishlegs came back twenty minutes later. His hair was a mess from pulling at it. He’d considered calling Viggo back a million times over, but he didn’t want to bring his problems to him. Yes, he’d told him he’d tell him if someone ever harmed him, but Cory hadn’t harmed him. He’d just made him royally pissed.

But this was Viggo’s phone that had been hacked. Hiccup had to tell him. 

“Hiccup, you okay?” Fishlegs asked. He held a pizza box. “Uh, got us a late night snack.”

“Not now, Fishlegs.” Hiccup was usually fine with whatever it was that Fishlegs brought into the room, and he would partake in it, but now, he really wasn’t in the mood. “I have to go make a call.”

“Everything okay?”

Hiccup quickly came up with a lie. He was doing a lot of that today. “Yeah. I think I just left something of mine at my dad’s.”

“Good luck.” Fishlegs set the box down on his desk. Hiccup usually would have smiled a little at his friend’s care, but now, he was too stressed.

Hiccup didn’t call Viggo until he’d left the building.

“Hiccup, calling again? Is everything alright?” There was a smirk in his voice. “Need help with your homework?”

“Actually, it’s not that.” Hiccup found a path and began walking. “Uh, I think your phone’s been hacked.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Someone sent me one of the pictures you took of me.” 

“Oh.” Viggo’s voice was very serious. “One of _those_ pictures?”

“Yes.” Hiccup was sweating despite the cool night air.

“Was there a message with it?”

“He tried telling me about you,” Hiccup said. “He tried telling me you were dangerous.” He laughed anxiously. “ _You? Dangerous?_ I tried telling him that you’re just a college professor.” 

“Hiccup, what was this person’s name?”

“Cory. I don’t know if he was telling the truth or not.”

There was a pause on Viggo’s end, as if he was thinking. Then he said: “Probably not. Did you block his number?”

“Yeah. I don’t even know why I talked to him. He found me outside of class and-”

“Wait, he met you in person?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Hiccup, I need you to go to Public Safety and give them this man’s description. Tell them he harassed you.”

“I mean, yeah, he physically grabbed me.”

“ _Hiccup_ , why didn’t you tell me all this when you called earlier?” There was a concerned tone in Viggo’s voice. He wasn’t angry with him, just upset that he hadn’t known sooner.

“I was scared,” Hiccup said. That was the truth really. This whole thing was freaking him out. As he was on the phone, he’d changed his direction to head towards the Public Safety building. They worked as the college’s security team. Certainly they would want to know that someone had come on campus and had harassed one of their students. 

“Everything will be alright, Hiccup. Just do as I said.”

“Okay.”

“And there’s nothing more he said to you, right?”

“He came up with this crazy story that he knew you.” Hiccup didn’t know why he couldn’t tell Viggo that. He trusted him completely.

“Crazy indeed. Are you free tomorrow at 2 o’clock?”

“Yeah.”

“Come to my office then.” Viggo gave Hiccup instructions to his office that he was sure he would remember. This was important to him, after all. “I hope you manage to get some sleep after all this.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Thank you for telling me, Hiccup. I’ll get my phone checked right away.”

“Good.”

“Have a good night.”

“You too.”

Hiccup hung up, and now he stood outside of the Public Safety building. Working up his nerve, he stepped inside. 

  
  


Viggo instantly logged onto his kink group after the phone conversation with Hiccup.

 **Which one of you harassed my boyfriend at his college?!** Viggo wished he could imbue the message with all the anger he felt. He hardly ever used exclamation points. Maybe the people on the other end of the screen would sense his anger. 

As he watched, one of the people left the group, while several began typing messages that they hadn’t - and would never - do such a thing. So, he’d scared them off. And Viggo had an inkling that he knew who it was.

“Cory, you bastard,” he muttered under his breath, though he was home alone. He hadn’t seen or heard from Cory in 4 years. They’d dated when Cory was 20, and it had ended badly with Cory almost going to the police over what Viggo considered a misunderstanding. Now Cory had sought out his current partner and had tried telling him he was dangerous. Clearly there was something wrong with this individual. He was obsessed enough with Viggo that he’d secretly found and joined his kink group, and then had stalked and harassed Hiccup.

And, there was nothing Viggo could do.

  
  


“Ryker, I had to leave the group.”

“What? Why?” The other man’s voice was heavy with sleep. 

Cory sat down on the lone couch in his apartment. He was doing well with his career, but he was saving up money to move somewhere larger. 

“Viggo found out I was in it. I found his newest boy and he went and squealed to him instead of listening to me.”

“What’d you do? Stalk him?” Ryker sounded amused.

“He wasn’t that difficult to find,” Cory answered. “I tried calling him again but I think he blocked my number.”

“Cory, how many times have we been over this? You have to do these things carefully.” Ryker was annoyed, for sure. 

“Hiccup just seemed different. He seemed like he would listen-”

“Gotta go,” Ryker cut him off. “Viggo’s calling me.”

The call ended, and Cory sat on his couch, simmering. He was deeply upset. He’d wanted to get Hiccup to listen to him, to keep another person from falling into one of Viggo’s traps. Viggo was an easy trap to fall into: charming, charismatic, smooth. He didn’t seem dangerous at all… until you got to know him better. Cory wondered how much Hiccup had told Viggo about what had happened, but Viggo had probably soothed his worries… and told him to go report him to Public Safety. He wasn’t going to be getting back onto campus. And it didn’t look like he could call Hiccup again either.

He was stuck, and now, so was Hiccup. 


End file.
